No Retreat (No Surrender)
by TheHarleyQueen
Summary: Truly, it went like this. Their reign came to an end, but their empire never would. They would be honoured in history as EvieCarlosMalJay, and they were loved.


_If you're new to the Seven Deadly Sins series, this is the seventh story. You can find the order of reading on my profile, or if you'd prefer, the entire series in one story titled 'The Horsemen's Cycle'._

* * *

 **Gluttony: No Retreat (No Surrender)**

* * *

 _All good things come to an end (but really, great things never do)._

Once upon a time, there were four heroes. They were born in the slums of a cage, and they weren't expected to amount to much. But they worked hard, and persevered, and became stronger than anyone knew, and they became Kings and Queens. Their names were Carlos, Evie, Jay, and Mal.

Carlos was the youngest of the heroes. He was pale and sickly and wasn't expected to make it past his second birthday, not between the abuse his mother doled out and the time he spent on the sickbed. But one day, a girl told him a story that sent strength flowing through his veins and power through his muscles. He was the first to understand who what he was. He still hid in the shadows, still acted the weak coward, but he knew, in his heart of hearts, that he was sent to remake the world, and so when he met { _and fucked_ } the princess that wielded poisons and knives with equal skill, he smiled and offered to tell her a story about a goddess that had come to Earth.

Jay was the strongest of the heroes. Born of darker skin colour, he'd never been treated the same on the Isle of the Lost. He'd always had to be better- faster, better, stronger, more cunning, more manipulative. His father had used him as a way to stock his store and keep them afloat from the age of five. He'd always been strong, been a wall of iron and offence. He'd been the first of them to understand how _alone_ they were in the world, and the last of them to hear the story of what they _were_ \- to each other, to the world. _Goddamn messiahs_ , he'd called them, laughing, even as his cuffs clicked together, even as he knew he was enslaved for his entire future { _many years later, he'd give his lamp to Carlos, who cared for it the same way he cared for his portrait_ }.

Evie was the most beautiful. A princess, a succubus, borne of the Evil Queen's desire and the semen of a dead man. She had porcelain skin and a rosary around her neck, and vibrant blue hair. She drank arsenic like it was wine and painted her lips red with blood. She had a crown, made of silver and rubies, and she had a tower, like every princess. She was trained, though, like other princesses weren't, in the art of _seduction_ and _fucking_ , trained by her best friends and her _Queen_ { _she was the one who told Mal the story of reincarnation, even though it had taken her years to believe it herself, too firmly set in the ways of the church. She whispered it to the daughter of Maleficent in the dead of night, naked under the sheets, and Mal grinned so wide it was nearly grotesque and breathed, "_ _ **Obviously**_ _."_ }.

And Mal… well, Mal was just the _most_. She was pretty and smart and _built_ from _sex_. She had first been thrown into the brothel by her mother when she was fourteen and they needed cash to pay for Maleficent's alcoholic... habits. She was full of life and magick, and the fae blood that flowed through her veins built her son into the most powerful faerie the world had ever seen. She had pure white skin, and when her wings grew in, they were purple and black { _she never had horns, the truest sign of the fae. She didn't need horns, she just wanted her birthright_ }.

The pattern was always going to end. They were gods, not _God_. They weren't immortal, even if their incarnations were. Mal was born as fae, and immortal race, and yet it was _guaranteed_ that she would die before the cycle could end. And when Mal died, so did her lovers. One by one. It wasn't of _heartbreak_ , no. Each of them walked into the next life, into the cycle of reincarnation, in their own way, each so personal.

* * *

 _The Sappho_ docked in Chess for the first time nearly three hundred years after it left, to attend the greatest funeral the world had ever seen. None of the original crew remained on the ship { _Helena and Lonnie had gone out in a blaze of glory, swords swinging, and had ensured that their all-female crew would survive. Shenandoah_ _had died at the ripe old age of eighty_ }, but that didn't leave the new girls less honour-bound to attend the funeral of the Kings and Queens that had once granted their captain their boat.

Their shrouds were all pure black, and the bodies that were left were burnt { _Queen Evie's body was unreachable, and King Carlos's body was destroyed, but their crowns were burnt in their places_ }. Felicia Facilier held a baby { _the hair of the Iron Court, a boy who looked like both his mothers and both his fathers, who never got to love him the way they wanted to_ } and kept her arm around Queen Hero.

After the ceremony, when the girls were about to board their ship and sail off for another hundred years, they were approached by the Queen. She was a quiet sort. She wished them well and reminded them that any of their crew would always be considered citizens of Chess. She left immediately afterwards, their captain staring after her in confusion.

The crew of _The Sappho_ was an ever-changing being, and eventually it, too, died, when the ship hit rocks and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, landing next to the ruins of Atlantis.

* * *

When Mal announced her pregnancy to Evie and Jay, barely an hour after she'd announced it to Carlos, she was four months pregnant. Her lovers, though, treated her like she was the most fragile thing in the world { _she loved it_ }.

And when they sat on their thrones and their people stared at Mal's belly, swollen and beautiful and exposed, and she laughed with joy.

After Mal bled out, Evie followed her into hell to bring her back. She was Orpheus and Mal was Eurydice

* * *

 _On and_ _on Orpheus walked, surrounded by the dead, and then he saw a palace loom out of the shadows. As he approached it, the dead fell back. He found that he was walking alone. He was approaching the dwelling place of their king. He made his way between black gates; he climbed steps of black stone; a doorway of black ebony swung open before him. He entered the hall. At the far end of it, there were two thrones. On one sat the king of terrors, Hades himself, his eyes as deep as open graves, his black beard spread across his belly. Beside Hades sat his wife, beautiful Persephone. She was like a moon shining in a dark sky, like a mistletoe berry in the depths of winter. Orpheus, still playing his lyre, walked up to the two thrones. He stood before the god and goddess. He looked into their faces and then he began to sing._

' _We mortals are wretched things and the gods who know no care have woven sorrow into the pattern of our lives. Even the sparrow on the branch, even the wren in the willow knows more of sorrow than the thundering gods, who have never felt the cold hand of death closing around their hearts. But you, you mighty gods, you have known the sweet pains of love. You have felt Aphrodite's shining shafts. Great Hades, imagine those summer months, when Persephone is gone, lasting forever. Imagine, if you can, her pale face crumbling into dust. That is how it is for mortal man. Great Hades, I beg you, give me back my Eurydice.'_

 _There was a silence. Then Persephone turned to Hades, her face streaming with silver tears, and Hades turned to his wife. One oily black tear trickled down his cheek and splashed onto his beard. He drew breath and spoke: 'Fetch me the three Fates.' The three ancient sisters were brought before him, the first who spins out the thread of a life, the second who measures its length and the third who cuts it. Hades looked into the wrinkled, leathery face of the third sister. 'Find the cut thread of Eurydice's life and mend it.' The third sister bowed before the god. Hades turned to Orpheus. 'Now go! Leave my palace! Leave my realm, and she will follow you. But do not look behind you. Do not look over your shoulder until the light of the sun shines full on your face.' Orpheus bowed. He turned on his heel and left the palace. He made his way across the shadowy kingdom until he came to the river's edge. Charon, the ferryman, was waiting for him; he climbed into the boat. As he sat down he felt it tremble, as if someone had climbed in behind him. He kept his eyes fixed on the far shore. When they reached the riverbank, he stepped out of the boat and behind him he could hear footsteps, soft footsteps following him. As he journeyed, he could sometimes hear the snap of a twig. Sometimes he thought he could feel Eurydice's breath on the back of his neck. And still he looked ahead._

 _He made his way through the tunnel of stone. And then at last he was out of the cave and breathing the fresh air of the living world. Above him the sky was bright with shining stars. Soon, he thought to himself, soon the dawn will break and the light of the sun will shine on my face. But as Eurydice was following Orpheus, she caught her foot on a stone, she tripped and she fell. Orpheus heard her stumble and without thinking he turned to catch her in his arms. He tried to break her fall and for a single moment he saw her face, pale beneath the silver stars. And then his arms closed around empty air and she was gone. In the land of many guests, the third Fate cut the thread of Eurydice's life for the second time. And this time there would be no mending it._

Patterns inside patterns around patterns. Circles never end, and so everything happens at least once.

* * *

This was the compromise. After Mal's death, and after Evie had followed her into hell to bring her back { _and never come back herself_ }, Miranda had lost her wits to a fit of madness that lasted for the rest of her life. Miranda was immortal, her mother had ensured that. But with great power comes great madness. Miranda had never been able to handle the millions of years of knowledge inside her. It was the four that were keeping her truly grounded. She'd shared her knowledge, and she didn't have to carry it all. After Mal died and Evie followed her, all their knowledge came rushing back to Miranda, and she went completely _mad_.

Carlos had tried, for the longest time, to bring her back to them. He'd bartered with Felicia and he'd made deals with devils, but Miranda was finally { _truly, eventually_ } lost to the world { _she'd known it would come. This was her part to play in the pattern_ }.

It was with a truly heavy heart that Carlos had led her down to the lowest dungeon of the **Blood Palace** with a box of matches and a knife { _and Carlos spilt the sacred blood of the lamb, and the husk of Miranda's body hit the floor, and he'd burnt her body_ }.

Carlos had been left, staring at his portrait, lost, with a box of matches in his hand.

* * *

The **Blood Palace** housed the happiest lovers in the world, it was said. The happiest lovers in the world _and their unborn child_. Mal was in her second trimester, and her Kings and Queen didn't hesitate to shower her with anything she could ever want. _An heir_ said the whispers around the castle _that was so long awaited that the Kings and Queens were considering moving Princess Hero down the line of succession {_ _ **this, of course, was utter nonsense**_ _}._

Mal sat on her throne, in all her pregnant glory, motherhood making her stronger, defending and boosting and ruling her land well, in tandem with the Trickster and the Thief and the Whore. She was told the stories of her people, and she'd been told for hundreds of years, and made the best decision possible { _or left it to Jay or Carlos or Evie, all of which were just as brilliant as her_ }.

" _My beautiful wife,"_ the High King whispered. " _My beautiful_ _ **wives**_ _,"_ he corrected when the Angelic Queen shot him a glance, " _what did I ever do to deserve you?"_

" _You killed and stole and overpowered and hid and lied and gave us a country,"_ Carlos told him, pressing kisses to his neck and jaw.

The Avenger relaxed into his throne and his lover's touch, smiling at the glittering wings on the back of his fae wife. _You have no idea_.

* * *

 _So you were never a saint_

 _And I've loved in shades of wrong_

 _We learn to live with the pain_

 _Mosaic broken hearts_

 _But this love is brave and wild_

Astoria Tremaine was never meant to last forever. She was human, fragile and breakable, and she'd suffered more trauma than most even thought of through their entire life. She had a boyfriend { _husband, lover, cousin_ } that she loved more than she could bear, and a mother that hadn't much cared to remember her father.

Dimitri Tremaine was never meant to last forever. He was human, and he may have been one of the physically strongest on the Isle of the Lost, but his heart was weak, full of love and adoration for his wife { _cousin, lover_ } and his best friend { _long dead, but who he could have loved for the rest of his life_ }. He was strong, forced himself that way to protect his mother and his lover and his aunt, but he would have died for any of them, and that made him weak.

 _This is a state of grace_

 _This is a worthwhile fight_

 _Love is a ruthless game_

 _Unless you play it good and right_

Dimitri and Astoria Tremaine lived well, keeping their mothers to serve them { _loved them enough not to kill them, but not enough to set them free_ } and running the country of their worst enemy like it was a business, and often visiting the **Blood Palace** { _in secret, so as not to attract unwanted attention_ } to jeer at the son of Cinderella, shackled and serving at the feet of the Kings and Queens.

They lived well, but it grew too much for Astoria.

Astoria and Dimitri had loved Mikhail Medusa more than they could bear, and his death brought them closer together and fractured their heart in the same patterns. And it grew too much for kind-hearted Astoria { _or rather, the Astoria that would have been kind-hearted, had she not been raised on the Isle of the Lost_ }. More and more days she found herself wandering to King's Cliff and looking down, wondering what it would feel like to fly { _she would never jump, she loved her husband far too much to leave him_ }.

The wind at King's Cliff was strong, though.

 _These are the hands of fate_

 _You're my Achilles heel_

 _This is the golden age of something good_

 _And right and real_

When Dimitri Tremaine realised where his wife was going, he never followed her. He loved her, and she loved him, but sometimes they both needed space to mourn for their other lover, the one that never could have loved them back { _Dimitri's mourning spot was deep in the moors. His grandmother's stint with the Faerie Godmother's magick wand had infused the Tremaine line with just enough magick to cross through the wall of thorns_ }.

He came out to King's Cliff once { _on the day of the anniversary of Mikhail death_ }. He had no belief that Astoria would jump, but he needed to see her { _he couldn't lose all of them, he would_ _ **die**_ }.

{ _He was wrong, thinking she wouldn't jump.}_

When he called her name and she turned to face him, he could see that. A serene smile crossed her face, and a look of sorrow sparked in her eyes. But when she looked backwards, over the edge of the cliff, Dimitri could see she'd made her decision, and nothing would ever sway her.

She let herself fall backwards over the edge.

There was a moment when they were both suspended in time, she in the air and he at the edge of the cliff, watching her fall, watching he dress fall around her.

{ _you're tied together with a smile but you're coming undone/romeo save me i've been feeling so alone/did some things you can't speak of but at night you'll live it all again/forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you've never met but loving him was red/say you'll remember me standing in a nice dress staring at the sunset, babe/delicate_ }

Mal was in her seventh month of pregnancy, and the baby seemed to be a boy. Evie was overjoyed, and Jay and Carlos couldn't keep the smiles off their faces whenever they saw their wife. Mal spent hours upon hours in the Casting Room, trying to expose their son to as much magick as possible { _she would not bear a baby that was half-fae, would not wish her suffering on her child like Maleficent did_ }.

She read to her unborn son and sang to him, told him stories of dragons and beasts and fake weddings and faraway lands.

* * *

Felicia Facilier used voodoo to keep herself alive well into her three-hundredth year. A choice most people disliked (after all, most people disliked Felicia) but didn't comment on. She served the High Queen dutifully, keeping the favour she was owed secret. She didn't use the three wishes she'd been granted by the Djinn either. Felicia was the _queen_ of waiting for the right time, and she intended to use her favours only when the time was right.

No one knew what Mal owed Felicia.

And they wouldn't, not until the High Queen gave birth, not until Felicia mourned { _for her friend, and for the favour she was owed. Felicia was, when it came down to it, a practical woman above all else_ }.

Felicia lived until she was five hundred and thirty-four years old, lived to be the advisor of Hero Árnadalr, _Queen of Chess and Arendelle, Heir to the Southern Isles and the Empress over Wonderland_ and her daughter, Maleficent the Third _, of the line Árnadalr, Queen of Chess and Arendelle, Heir to the Southern Isles and the Empress over Wonderland_.

Felicia turned to dust when she died, her soul taking its place amongst the other _friends on the other side_ , and she was happy.

* * *

Truly, it went like this.

Mal's body had built itself back up to carrying a child, but not to childbirth. She spent four days in labour, screaming, clutching her spouses' hands, begging Felicia for some sort of relief { _Felicia spent one of her three wishes on her Queen's relief_ }.

Mal's boy was born as she died { _not Ben's, as he wished before he died, but_ _ **a child that would one day grow up to be a hero beyond the calibre of his mother(s) and father(s)**_ }.

Felicia spent her next two wishes trying to bring Mal back { _The favour dies with me_ }.

Evie held her baby and wept when he looked up at her with Mal's eyes and her own hair, with Jay's skin and Carlos's face, and whispered his name to the others.

Evie walked into Hell to bring Mal back, and never walked out.

Carlos killed himself in sorrow.

Jay went mad.

* * *

Truly, it went like this.

Hero was a good queen.

Her daughter married Emrys { _of the line le Fay_ }.

They were a good King and Queen.

* * *

Kristoff had been missing for over three hundred years before he attempted a coup { _it was a historic failure. Even though the Queens and the Deceitful King were dead, the Avenging King wasn't, and he was_ _ **the God of War**_ _. He'd taken down the five hundred trolls that had attempted to unseat him and_ _ **his**_ _line_ }. He'd been living as a rock troll { _with his son, who was also the son of Princess Anna_ _Árnadalr, who was also a_ _ **threat to the crown**_ }. The trolls had harboured a vendetta against Queen Elsa, and the Kings and Queens of Chess, and so they'd betrayed their monarchs { _King Jay had killed most of the trolls, but it was Queen Hero who led the worldwide hunt that sent them to extinction, with her husband Arrick Árnadalr, King Consort and cousin of Queen Hero_ }.

They named their first daughter Maleficent, their second Valen, and their sons Halvor and Arkyn.

And Maleficent the third was betrothed to Emrys le Fay { _of the lines de Vil, and Jafar, and Grimhilde_ } whose horns grew to be the length of his forearm and whose moss-coloured wings became the symbol of an empire { _who could grant wishes like the djinn and drew energy like an incubus_ }.

Truly, it went like this.

A common girl that would become a soldier above all others { _a common girl who would have 309 kills to her name_ } was born in Africa with the name Thana' { _AnubisHadesAzrealHelPluto_ _ **Mal**_ }.

Down the street from her, a three-year-old girl named Adamma { _AnaelVenusAphroditeFreyaHathorConquest_ _ **Evie**_ } was adopted { _they would grow up as the best friends the world had ever seen_ }.

Nearby, a Mami Wata was given the name Gyana{ _LokiHermesMercuryGabrielPestilenceSet_ _ **Carlos**_ } { _she would keep Thana' alive for many, many years. They were_ _ **so**_ _in love_ }.

Six years later, a boy name Dume { _MichealAresMarsHorusThor_ _ **Jay**_ } was born to a dying mother and was raised as a sibling of Adamma { _he was one day elected to rule his country, and he did so well_ }.


End file.
